AVN Membership – Well Educated and Well Informed

The Australian Vaccination Network (AVN) conducted an on-line membership survey at the end of 2012, with 640 members replying.  Eighty percent of these members were female and most had children.  Their overall education level was high - over 80% had a post school qualification and 56% had a bachelor degree or higher.  More than half worked in professional occupations.

Almost all had a negative attitude to childhood vaccination, with 85% being able to recall a time when they had become less positive to vaccination than previously.  The major reasons that prompted them to research vaccination and change their attitude were a concern to do the best for their families, and having witnessed adverse reactions to vaccination or the resulting long term effects.  Almost all had accessed a wide range of sources of information on vaccination, including the medical literature.  Notably, the AVN did not play a big role in initiating a change in attitudes, although it did serve as a source of information and support once people had decided to research the issue.

These parents have increasingly rejected vaccination in recent years.  Of 348 children represented in the survey aged five years or less, only two percent were fully vaccinated and eight percent were only partially vaccinated.  Thirty-three percent of these members said that at least one family member had suffered adverse reactions to a vaccine.  And thirty percent said that at least one family member had suffered long term effects from vaccines.  Allergies, including food intolerance, were mentioned 41 times.  Asthma was mentioned 34 times, along with a host of behavioural disorders, including autism which was mentioned 23 times.  Sixty felt that at least one family member had behavioural problems as a result of vaccines.

Ninety percent of these members agreed with the statement – “On average, non-vaccinated children tend to be healthier than those that have been vaccinated.”  If nothing else, the survey results indicate that there is an urgent need for medical authorities to initiate studies to compare the long-term physical and psychological health of vaccinated and unvaccinated children.

This recent survey was a follow up to a similar membership survey in 1998.  A copy of the report of the earlier survey can be accessed by clicking this link - A Profile of the Vaccination Awareness Movement in Australia.

For further information or to arrange for an interview with the AVN's President, Mr Greg Beattie, please email info@avn.org.au.